@SpiritManager I missed that, thanks for the correction. That looks significantly less generous than the OOS numbers in terms of final budget gap, seems to leave around $24k per year for the student to fund, at least as far as the automatic funding side is concerned? There are other scholarships that can also be applied for.
I see that US education is not very realistic. Given all these problems, I don’t know if someone can completely focus on learning without being distracted by these issues, which is my primary focus.
Is the situation similar with countries like Canada and Australia? Sorry for this question, because this is an American forum, but if someone knows they may post an answer.
Why are you so eager to leave India?
I think it purely depends upon me where i want to study. Some reasons to go abroad are:
- Exposure to a diverse environment
- Quality of education
- Infrastructure
4.more study options
5.research opportunities
Many more factors that can’t be listed.
Honestly, if you have a perfect SAT score and good grades (which you do), you should apply broadly to the top 25 US schools (public and private) and hope for the best. It is difficult but not impossible to get massive amounts of aid as a foreigner.
I am assuming that you have the resources to apply to several schools. If you don’t, you should focus on need-blind schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.
If the currently available Yolasite list is any indication (http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/), there seem to be at most about 20-25 of those schools. That is assuming every school on the Yolasite list includes internationals in their offers. Many of them probably fall short in covering some of the 5 factors listed in post #63, such as research opportunities.
The most respected public universities typically grant little or no FA to international students. Check the CDS (section H6) of any that interest you.
Your best options might be among the ~60 colleges that claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need. I believe most of them extend that policy to international students, although very few of them (maybe 6 or so) are need-blind for internationals. These schools are all very selective, or in some cases (Harvard, Stanford) so selective it may not even be worth applying. You can look up the average FA amounts in the CDS. Better yet, run the online net price calculators.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission
Example: Wesleyan University is a respected, highly selective LAC. For 2018-19, it awarded FA to 89 international students. The average amount was over $64,017 (per year). That would still leave you with about $10K of out-of-pocket expenses. I believe the “89” represents all undergrads. So, on average, very few foreign students per country are getting into Wesleyan with those big FA awards. For high-need students from India or China, I doubt the admission rates get above single digits for most of these ~60 schools.
(I don’t mean to discourage the OP. His stats are very impressive.)
@Helium90 : it’s hard. There are no guarantees. But the US wants the best students from the entire world. So, it’s up to you to distinguish yourself. You have no certainty of being selected. No one does, at this level of competition, not even Americans. Show me a high-level athlete who’s afraid of competing in the Olympics because they’re afraid to lose, though? Each year students with lower stats than yours get in. You have the stats and the drive. Your main handicap is money. You can target some of the “full needs” universities, especially LACs in the Midwest, plus universities that offer competitive or automatic full rides and see. It’ll be a lot of work. Normal: it’s a lot of money.
So, yes, you may be denied at every college. Even if that happens, you won’t be worse off than if you hadn’t applied, although it is ego-bruising. If you can bear the uncertainty, you’re ok.
Do include safeties. If not in India, elsewhere.
Note that for incomes under $45,000 a year, commonapp fees are waived. For universities NOT on CommonApp, you have to pay application fees ($75 per univeristy).
The French “PCSI” classes I listed would almost certainly admit you if you speak French and would be affordable. (University tuition fees for internationals are €2,700 in France, but they are waived for students admitted to these classes, all you have to pay is a registration fee of €170.) Admission is 100% stats-based in Maths, Physics, Chemistry, English, and French. So, the sticking point for you will be French since you have the rest of it.
Australia has very, very few scholarships.
Canada is possible: in particular, apply to Waterloo before December 1. There’s also the Pearson scholarship at UToronto that you can compete for.
@tk21769 - To my knowledge, the yolasite list has not been updated for about four years. This means that while it is a useful place to start, it cannot be considered definitive. Even if it had been updated for fall 2018, there certainly would be some changes for fall 2019.
@Helium90 - In the past, Australia and Canada had more favorable work permission policies for international students while studying and after graduation than the US has. So do look up that information on those governments’ websites and/or ask the Education Officers at the consulates of those countries that are closest to where you live.
I love you guys. Thanks for the word of caution and for the generous advice! If someone can add something that hasn’t been touched yet, it’ll be much appreciated.
One more question, is Waterloo in Canada a Target/safety? How much does it cost?
Many students study physics in their home country, then come to the US for a PhD. If you have excellent college grades, do well on the GRE and Physics GRE, speak English well, and get some kind of research experience in your home country, you can probably find a funded program in the US. They waive your tuition (so you can take classes toward your masters for the first two years) and pay you a stipend that should be enough to live on during your time in the program. You would likely TA for part of the time you are there. Many schools also provide health insurance for PhD students, which covers a big expense.
You csn do little job wise without a PhD in physics anyway, so why not take this route?
Waterloo is a target, high match if you want co-op.
please post deadlines of application for these colleges.
They’re on each university’s website.